Development Standards
Development Standards Committee—Plan Review for New Construction and Remodeling.
The Bylaws of CBB Civic Association, Incorporated (Section 6.01) establish a Development Standards Committee (the “DSC”). The DSC is charged with monitoring development- and construction-related issues in the CBB neighborhoods and administering the duties of the CBB Civic Association under the Restrictive Covenants relating to the architectural control. The DSC is to be composed of five members, four of whom are appointed by the Board of Directors of the Association (one from each of the CBB subdivisions) plus the Vice President of the Association, who serves as Chair of the DSC.
The CBB Restrictive Covenants (Section 4.1) provide that “[n]o structure shall be erected, placed, or altered on any lot until reviewed for conformance with the Restrictions and approved in writing by the Development Standards Committee ….” As a result, plans for all new construction and remodeling in the CBB neighborhoods must be submitted to the DSC for approval before commencement of construction or remodeling. The DSC has developed guidelines, requirements and procedures for its acceptance, review and approval of plan submittals as set out in the section of this outline entitled, “Development Standards Committee—Required Submittals for Plan Review and Approval.” After review and approval of plan submittals, one member of the DSC is to sign and return a submittal record copy to the new-construction or remodeling applicant, as the case may be. If DSC does not respond to a complete submittal application within 30 days after receipt, the submittal application will be considered approved as submitted.
Neither the Association nor the DSC has the power or discretion to grant “variances” or waivers from applicable Restrictive Covenants.
Development Standards Committee—Required Submittals for Plan Review and Approval.
For the DSC to review plans for new construction or remodeling, the property owner or its representative must submit the following items to the DSC in the manner set forth below:
- New Construction Applications: Floor plan, site plan (reflecting and labeling all applicable building setbacks required by Restrictive Covenants and Plats) and front elevation with building setbacks and heights clearly dimensioned (at least 2 hard printed copies of each, plus electronic copies of each). Hard copies of site plan and elevations should be large enough to be easily legible.
- Remodeling Applications: Floor plan, site plan (reflecting and labeling all applicable building setbacks required by Restrictive Covenants and Plats) and front elevation with building setbacks and heights clearly dimensioned (at least 2 hard printed copies of each, plus electronic copies of each). Hard copies of site plan and elevations should be large enough to be easily legible.
- All Applications (recommended but not required): Copy of current or recent on-the-ground survey of the property, sealed, dated and signed by a licensed surveyor, reflecting and labeling all applicable setbacks required by Restrictive Covenants and Plats, and all easements. See “Important Note regarding Surveys” below.
- All Applications: Cover transmittal letter to DSC, hand-delivered or mailed with all required enclosures and emailed with all required attachments, to the designated DSC intake person, containing:
- the Lot and Block numbers of the property and applicable subdivision name,
- the street address of the property,
- the name of each owner of the property,
- a general description of the new construction or remodeling project, and
- contact information for the owner or the owner’s designated representative for purposes of DSC communications, including name, mailing address, delivery address (if different), telephone number(s), fax number, and email address(es).
Important Note: Neither the Association nor the DSC makes judgments concerning or approves: (i) the accuracy or completeness of documents submitted to the DSC, (ii) the architectural or engineering soundness or safety of improvements described thereon, or (iii) the compliance of such documents or improvements with any governmental rules, regulations or requirements. Furthermore, the property owner, not the Association or the DSC, is solely responsible for all such matters and for the compliance of the property and the improvements with the Restrictive Covenants.
The DSC reviews plans, as submitted, and assists the property owner with understanding the Restrictive Covenants. Based upon its review of the plans, as submitted, the DSC may then approve or disapprove plans based upon the DSC’s interpretation of the Restrictive Covenants. Approval by the DSC is not a warranty or guarantee of compliance with the Restrictive Covenants, the Plats or governmental requirements. The burden of compliance with the Restrictive Covenants and other requirements remains the sole responsibility of the property owner. The DSC recommends that property owners review all applicable Restrictive Covenants and Plats carefully and discuss them with any design and construction personnel. Elements of construction or remodeling discovered to be in noncompliance with the Restrictive Covenants after the fact will be required to be corrected.
Important Note about Surveys: CBB Civic Association understands that occasionally surveyors of lots in the CBB subdivisions may describe or depict lots and related matters incorrectly, or interpret public records differently, resulting in possible errors or disagreements with respect to distances, angles, directional calls or depictions of easements, setbacks, streets, improvements or other matters. Property owners are advised to alert their surveyors to the possibility of such errors or differing interpretations and to require surveyors to confirm the accuracy of their surveys.
Neither the Association nor the DSC makes judgments concerning or approves the accuracy or completeness of surveys, nor does the Association or the DSC assume any responsibility for advising the property owner of possible errors or differing interpretations, if any. Any comments or questions by the DSC or its members regarding surveys are informational for the DSC only and may not be relied upon by property owners. The DSC makes no warranty or guaranty as to the accuracy or completeness of any such comments or questions regarding surveys. The DSC is not a licensed surveyor, and therefore the property owner must rely solely on the surveyor who prepared the survey, not on the Association or the DSC. Furthermore, neither the Association nor the DSC assumes any responsibility for identifying or resolving disputes or discrepancies between or among surveys of different lots in the CBB subdivisions. That is a matter solely between the property owner and the property owner’s surveyor. Any violation of applicable Restrictive Covenants related to or arising out of an erroneous survey, whether or not such error is identified by or known to the DSC, is the sole responsibility of the property owner, not the Association or the DSC. Elements of construction or remodeling discovered to be in noncompliance with the Restrictive Covenants after the fact will be required to be corrected.